Victims Of Train Wreck Were Tourists, Relatives Say

One Of The Women Leaves Behind A Newborn

FORT LAUDERDALE — The trio from Tennessee had just started a weeklong vacation in South Florida when a grisly train wreck killed two of them, relatives said Friday.

Felicia Hatmaker, 22, traveled to Fort Lauderdale in a Toyota Camry with her boyfriend's sister, Connie Hamblin, 44, and Hamblin's husband, according to a relative.

A northbound commuter train with 250 passengers aboard plowed into the Toyota on Commercial Boulevard on Thursday morning, dragging the car about 60 feet.

Hatmaker and Connie Hamblin, who was driving, were thrown from the Camry and pronounced dead at the scene, said police spokeswoman Detective Katherine Collins.

Hamblin's husband, Eddie Hamblin, 48, was taken to North Broward Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition on Friday.

"It's really hard for the family right now," said Hatmaker's aunt, Julie Powers, 33, on the phone from Duff, in eastern Tennessee. "She's like a daughter to me."

Hatmaker leaves behind a newborn girl, said her aunt.

Police and witnesses said Connie Hamblin drove onto the tracks as lights flashed and the crossing gates lowered. Thirty seconds later, a 325-ton Tri-Rail train barreled through the crossing at 60 mph.

Instead of crossing to the other side, the driver backed up and hit the crossing arm behind her, a witness said. Hamblin then hit the gas pedal and lurched forward just as the northbound train roared through.